A day of honor’

By Anna L. Griffin TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Tuesday

May 29, 2007 at 12:30 AM

Memorial Day programs in the Twin Cities capped off days-long observances for those who served in the armed forces.

Yesterday morning, residents lined Main Street in Fitchburg as a parade marched toward the Upper Common. Marching were veterans, city officials, representatives of the Gold Star mothers, members of the Fitchburg High School marching band and Boy Scouts.

The Rev. Edward R. Neuhaus, chaplain for UMass Memorial — HealthAlliance Leominster Campus, recited a prayer by Helen Steiner Rice for the invocation. “Freedom is a gift from God that commands the highest price.”

Fitchburg City Council President Jody M. Joseph said he was pleased to see the number of people who turned out for the ceremony. “We have people from old to the young who have turned out here today to honor the memory of those who have gone before us,” he said.

Noting the service of veterans continues when they return home from war, Fitchburg Mayor Dan H. Mylott told the crowd of the work that veterans have done in service to their community. “Today is a day of honor and reflection; we must not, we will not forget their sacrifice,” he said.

State Rep. Stephen L. DiNatale, D-Fitchburg, asked those in attendance to think of what the world would like if men and women had not answered the call to defend freedom.

He observed that for those who have answered that call, “freedom has a taste the protected will never know.”

Guest speaker Staff Sgt. Daniel Cotnoir of the U.S. Marine Corps, Retired, urged those in attendance to keep a special place in their heart for Memorial Day.

“Too much emphasis is placed on Memorial Day as a holiday, the official start of summer,” Sgt. Cotnoir, a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, said. He was also named 2005 Marine of the Year.

As the Marine Corps motto is “semper fidelis” (always faithful), he asked those in the audience to remain always faithful to honor the memory of those who have served.

The Monday-morning program in Fitchburg was preceded by two other Memorial Day activities. On Sunday morning, a memorial Mass was held at St. Camillus Church, Mechanic Street. The annual White Cross Service was held at Monument Park, Main Street on Sunday evening.

The service is held to honor all those who died in war, but whose bodies were not returned to the United States or who remain missing in action.

In Leominster, a ceremony was held last Wednesday evening for the Veterans Project 2000, a project that seeks to honor those who served in the military with the placement of a brick in Carter Park on Main Street.

This year, 160 bricks were added to the more than 2,000 already in the park. On Friday, the city’s White Cross Memorial Service was held at the Leominster Veterans Center, 100 West St.

Yesterday, more than 400 people gathered at Carter Park for the annual Memorial Day program. The program was the culmination of a series of events held at each of the city’s cemeteries.

“I am just thankful the weather held out for us,” said Richard N. Voutour, retired Marine first sergeant who is head of veterans’ services for the city. “I can’t tell you how pleased we are with the attendance we’ve had at these services. I hope we have the same response — even greater — for the Veterans Day services in November.”

Local and state officials participated in the Memorial Day program, as well as members of the Leominster High School marching band and the 15th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The guest speaker was Cmdr. Richard P. Halloran of the U.S. Navy Reserves.

Cmdr. Halloran said he wanted to remind the audience about the importance of those who serve. “It’s not the reporter who ensures freedom of speech, it’s the soldier,” he said. “It’s not the campus organizer who ensures the right to demonstrate, it’s the soldier.”

He said the focus of his speech was the values those who serve hold dear, and how this allows them to do what they have to do to preserve the freedoms that everyone enjoys.

VFW Post 1807 Cmdr. Dennis M. Lyddy read the names of veterans from the city, 67 in all, who have died since the last Memorial Day program.